Are many rappers secretly also hunters?

June 12, 2015 1:26 PM

On Medium's Cuepoint, MC Big Data analyzed data from all rap lyrics available on Rap Genius to determine the most popular ride in Hip Hop.

Surprisingly, the Chevy Impala won out, name dropped in 971 songs, far ahead of the predictable Cadillac Escalade, which came in second at 327 songs. Meanwhile Mercedez Benz as a brand overwhelmingly gets the most mentions.

Although the specific Impala model most mentioned is the 1964 one, the gif used to represent Impalas in general is in fact the 1967 model from Supernatural, even including Dean driving it.

posted by numaner (26 comments total)

One gripe: some of these are so obvious as to be unnecessary to include. Game, for instance, just about only raps in recognizable names and is a west coast revivalist, making his endless Impala mentions predictable to the point of parody. And of course Rick Ross racks up many Maybach mentions: his squad is called Maybach Music Group, and nearly every song of his (and Gunplay's, Wale's, Torch, etc.) starts with the words 'Maybach Music'.
posted by still bill at 1:37 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

But with "only" 54 Maybach mentions for Rick Ross, I think they're excluding the MMG intro sample.
posted by MetalFingerz at 1:52 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

My own one gripe: I hate it when charts are color-coded and include two items that are so similarly colored as to render them indistinguishable. Porsche and Rolls Royce are virtually identical yellow-green and even appear next to each other in two charts. There's no reason for that.
posted by me3dia at 1:52 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

nearly every song of his (and Gunplay's, Wale's, Torch, etc.) starts with the words 'Maybach Music'.

Wouldn't that skew this, then? When they say that they are talking about a record label, not the car.
posted by Sangermaine at 1:56 PM on June 12, 2015

The real question is if "Maybachs on bachs on bachs on bachs on bachs" was counted once or five times.
posted by Ian A.T. at 2:04 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

I learned how to drive a in a 70s impala so I'm also qualified to parallel park imperial star destroyers.

Plus it was too big to fit in our garage so I became really good at ping pong.
posted by srboisvert at 2:15 PM on June 12, 2015 [4 favorites]

I used to know a punk band called Kitty Badass who had a song called "Chevy Impala."
posted by jonmc at 2:16 PM on June 12, 2015

I didn't see hooptie mentioned anywhere
posted by janey47 at 2:44 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

I kinda skimmed, but didn't see anything about controlling for how 'Jeep' is used generically to refer not just to Jeeps, but also generically to SUVs (this is apparently one of my hobbyhorses).
posted by box at 2:53 PM on June 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

Wait what rapper - let alone musician of any genre - sings about Subarus?
posted by Nanukthedog at 3:25 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

The 2 Chainz episode of Noisey's Atlanta series where he's doing a Cribs style your of his house and he calmly says "That's a Maybach." is one of the funniest things I've seen.
posted by gucci mane at 3:45 PM on June 12, 2015

I want to know the one song that name-checks Subaru.
posted by Flashman at 3:46 PM on June 12, 2015

Straight out the bando.
posted by gucci mane at 3:46 PM on June 12, 2015

Drake and Rick Ross both mention Subarus.
posted by kmz at 3:52 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Subarus in general don't get much play, but lots of people like WRXs and STIs.
posted by box at 4:55 PM on June 12, 2015

During the Ultramagnetic MCs days, Kool Keith pushed a red Volvo 740 sedan with ground effects and a spoiler, but I'll be dammed if I can make google cough up a lyric. Even my new favorite query "rappers driving volvos" does nothing of note. So Volvo is a dark horse candidate at best...
posted by Divine_Wino at 5:15 PM on June 12, 2015

I see that the Volvo beats out several others actually, but I suspect that was dudes desperate for something to rhyme with "leche en polvo", in fact I'd stake my reputation on it!
posted by Divine_Wino at 5:19 PM on June 12, 2015

I don't know if it is Rick Ross or someone else, but he also mentions a red astro van a few times, albeit while he was considering suicide
posted by mulligan at 6:06 PM on June 12, 2015

Flashman: "I want to know the one song that name-checks Subaru."

Springsteen: "But my love is bigger than a Honda; It's bigger than a Subaru"
posted by octothorpe at 7:01 PM on June 12, 2015

'Cause that's the type of shit CaTash be pumpin' in the Volvo'
posted by box at 7:40 PM on June 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

'Wildin' out, fishtailin' Subaru rally car'
posted by box at 7:42 PM on June 12, 2015

White people
love me
like they love
Subarus
posted by jcruelty at 10:21 PM on June 12, 2015 [4 favorites]

"I got 99 cars, but an electric car ain't one" - Jay Z
posted by the cydonian at 1:32 AM on June 13, 2015

Haha!! 99 cars but an electric car ain't 1! That's great!
posted by Andrew Thewes at 9:23 AM on June 13, 2015

My gripe is accounting for slang names of cars, like "Lam", "Lambo", "Benzo", and the like. I love that Mahbod was the first commenter on the article though. There have been a number of these analyses and almost all of them are fluff. I'm looking forward to the first time one of these is really interesting.
posted by cashman at 4:01 PM on June 13, 2015

How many times was Audi 5000 counted?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:48 PM on June 13, 2015 [1 favorite]